Private Lessons

I teach all levels - Beginner to Advanced.

Depending on your level of playing and what you wish to learn, a customized lesson plan will be created to help you achieve your goals!

Sessions are $40 per hour or $35 per hour (2 hr. min.) - your house or mine, within central Florida.

If you don't own a mountain dulcimer, a loaner can be provided. I'm a laid-back and encouraging teacher who gets quick results with any student!

Call me at (407) 342-1447 to inquire about setting up mountain dulcimer lessons for you or someone that you love!

Click here for real-time VIDEO lessons!

 

School Programs - Presentations of Folk Music

Workshop fees:

(includes gratuitous resource material)

(1 hour Workshops) - $30 per person ($25 if taking more than one workshop)
(90 minute Workshops) - $35 per person ($30 if taking more than one workshop)
(2 hour workshops) - $40 per person ($35 if taking more than one workshop)

Just a few of my workshops...

How One Little Fret Will Change Your Life -
More and more players are adding the 1+ and 8+ frets to their dulcimers and loving it. In this workshop, I'll show you how these frets can be useful for not only playing tunes, but also understanding the basics of music theory.
Intermediate.

The Amazing Dulcimer Band -
If you've never played with a mountain dulcimer ensemble before, here's your chance to explore yet another fun facet of playing this wonderful instrument. We'll work through arrangements of familiar tunes that feature three specifically different parts. The result is like that of hearing a small orchestra perform. During the workshop, we'll touch briefly on the why's and how's of arranging, covering melody, harmony, counterpoint and special notation symbols.
Intermediate.

Exploring An Aeolian World -
We'll get warm and cuddly with the dark and mysterious Aeolian mode, both by tuning (DAC) and via capo (1st fret.) We'll learn scales, chords and popular traditional tunes written in this mode, including "Shady Grove", "Road To Lisdoonvarna" and "Cluck Old Hen."
Intermediate.

The Songs of Lead Belly -
The music of Huddie Ledbetter, aka Lead Belly, has spanned decades and influenced many performers in all genres. Songs that he wrote or popularized have been recorded by mainstream artists such as Harry Belafonte, Van Morrison, Creedence Clearwater Revival, The Beach Boys, The Weavers, Johnny Cash and Nirvana, just to name a few. In this workshop, we'll learn a few tunes, including "Cotton Fields" and "Rock Island Line."
Intermediate.

Have Mountain Dulcimer, Will Perform! -
Playing your mountain dulcimer is one thing; playing and singing is quite another. Add to that a set-list designed to entertain, stage business and poise, mindful dynamics and an unpredictable audience. This workshop is designed to get you thinking beyond simply singing with the mountain dulcimer with an eye towards presenting it in a live setting.
Intermediate to Advanced.

I Got Those Mountain Dulcimer Blues -
Woke up this mornin', all my dulcimer played was the blues
woke up this morning', all my dulcimer played was the blues
I'll give you chords, scales, licks and rhythms
for playing the blues, you'll want to use!
Intermediate to Advanced.

Mountain Dulcimer Boot Camp - ALRIGHT, LISTEN UP, RECRUITS! Just kidding. But this will be a hardcore session of exercises involving rhythms, strums, major and minor scales, hammer-ons, pull-offs, bends, accents, harmonics and finally, YIKES!, improvisation. Intermediate to Advanced

Beginning Mountain Dulcimer With Bing - Get to know the mountain dulcimer and what you can do with it. Covers the basics of picks, strums, strings, tuning, scales, tablature and more! Beginners.

Primal Mountain Dulcimer - This workshop is about getting spirit, mind and body ready to work together for a simple approach to playing mountain dulcimer. Relaxation and breathing techniques, visualizations as well as affirmations are taught along with basic rhythm and scale exercises that help you define your own unique sound. Beginners to Advanced.

Three Irish Ballads - Learn three lovely Irish ballads while incorporating playing techniques such as slides, turnarounds, hammer-ons, pull-offs and vibrato to add expression! 90 minute workshop with an endless repertoire of tunes. Intermediate to Advanced.

Chromatic Dulcimer 101 -
More and more people are taking up the chromatic mountain dulcimer and for good reason! It allows you to freely explore the wide world of music without leaving out notes or "cheating" chords. It's also not as hard as you might think. We'll work out of DAD tuning and get right into playing with chord shapes, scales and basic tricks to help you take any piece of music and perform it!
Intermediate to Advanced.

Crazy Chromatic Dulcimer! -
The focus of this workshop is freeing yourself from tablature and being able to pick out and play tunes using standard music notation. It is, in fact, part music theory training and also tips and tricks on how to find and play Major, minor, seventh, Major-seventh, minor-seventh, sixth, minor-sixth, suspended, ninth, diminished, augmented and other "extended" chords.
Advanced.

Flatpicking Fun - Pick melodies across the strings and learn the secrets of playing "inside the box" with scale exercises and a focus on pick direction, finger placement with pick/strum techniques. We'll work on a couple of fiddle tunes to practice. Intermediate to Advanced.

Get Rhythm! - The heartbeat of nearly every tune is its rhythm. In this workshop, we'll cover fundamental aspects of groove, from counting beats and exercises designed to get you strumming fluently to mixing and matching poly-rhythms and incorporating stops, accents, mutes and strum variations to create vibrant and dramatic percussion as you play! Intermediate to Advanced.

Seven Modes For Seven Dulcimers! - Explore seven modal tunings that will turn your dulcimer into seven different instruments! Tuning down into Ionian, Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, Mixolydian, Aeolian and Locrian modes and also using a capo to effortlessly play in seven different keys! Capo required. Beginners to Advanced.

Jamming Without A Net - Learn how to jam by the seat of your pants with confidence! How to play tunes that you don't know. Rhythm and melody creation, harmony, counter-point, chops and arrangement suport are all covered in this workshop that focuses on improvisational skills. Capo required. Intermediate to Advanced.

Adventures In Ionian! - Get familiar with the DAA tuning or explore new territories within this versatile mode. Deeper drones and fuller chords lead the way into a more traditional tuning as we learn chord shapes, harmony building and gorgeous tri-tone melodies. Yes, DAA and DAD can play together happily! Beginners to Advanced.

Songwriting Crash Course I (Beginners) - Covers song basics such as chord progressions, melody, arranging and lyric-writing. By the end of this class, you will have written your own original song!

Songwriting Crash Course II (Intermediate) - For songwriters now looking to make the next step. Goes over the basics of tablature and standard music notation. Re-writing and fleshing out first drafts, incorporating harmony and counter-point, performance approaches and recording tips.

Project Studio/Home Recording- Anyone with a laptop and decent software can record their music at home or on the road. Workshop will cover set-up, audio interfaces, microphone placement, engineering tips, using plug-ins and effects, mixing and equalization. (Pre-registration required - must own laptop and functional recording software with microphone, headphones and audio interface.) Beginners To Advanced.

Online Real-Time Video Lessons

Can't make it out to a festival for workshops? I also do private lessons (your house or mine) in the state of Florida as well as online real-time video lessons. Click to read more!

(For workshop and performance scheduling, click here.)